Now that my 77 is finally driveable I have a question about the steering feel. I have never driven a Corvette before this car. It has the wide 15" Chevy rally wheels and tires on it. They are big tires. My PSCV is rebuilt and set up correctly and my power steering pump works great. All the steering components are new. I drove it around the block a few times over the weekend and I notice that the steering feel is firm. I would say it feels like power assist.. not power steering. Its been 20 years since I owned a car from the 70's. Is this how its supposed to feel? I definitely can't steer this car at under 5 miles an hour with my fingers. I would say this... based on how my car feels regarding the brakes, the 4spd and the steering...
Brakes are definitely power and they feel normal.
4spd is very mechanical. The clutch pedal is hard to push in and the shifter requires some muscle to operate. Its a brand new clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing. It works great. Its just not easy. Clutch starts to grab a few inches off of the floor.
Steering feel is firm, I would say power assist.. not power steering. I have owned old 60's and 70's muscle cars that you could turn the wheel with your pinky finger. This isn't one of those cars.
I would also say this.. if my wife jumped into this car she would have a very tough time driving it.
Does this sound about normal?

 

It's difficult to judge the effort you're describing without actually driving it. However, I've owned three C3s that had power steering ('72, '73, '82). None could be turned with one or two fingers. You have to hold the wheel and turn it. OTOH, I wouldn't consider any of those cars to be overly difficult for a woman to drive in terms of physical effort.

 

C3 power steering is power assist. It is not the integral full power found on other GM makes.

 

Have you seen this post?

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...some-help.html

 

Hi,
Isn't the diameter of the steering wheel an acknowledgement of the effort required to steer at very low speeds and when parking?
Regards,
Alan

 

what cold tire pressure are you using?

 

My 79 felt like I had to make to many steering corrections. I put a spreader bar in this past winter and that feeling went away. Don't know what your car is doing but well worth the upgrade and may solve what you're experiencing. My wife is 5 feet tall and has more trouble seeing out of the car than steering it.

 

Run 35 all around!

 

My 74 and 80 can give the feeling of chasing the steering if the road surface is not smooth. Both have 255/60/15 B F Goodrich TA tires all around. Wide tires can cause the car to follow ridges and wallows in the road. My 2012 Camaro ZL1 does the same thing, and it has very wide tires.